Waukegan’s Bryant Brown was nervous during the first day of practice when he was a freshman.

Brown is now a senior. And the 6-foot-4 guard/forward is one of the top players in the area.

Brown didn’t have any nerves as the Bulldogs began practice Monday — just the joy of being back with his teammates.

“It felt pretty good,” Brown said. “It was good seeing all the guys returning. It’s pretty much our same team from last year and there are a couple of transfers.

“You can tell who’s been putting in work during the offseason. It was good to see everybody back.”

Monday’s practice was in a tryout format.

“While there is some instruction going on, it’s more of an opportunity for returning guys as well as new faces to show what they’re about and what they can bring to the table and if they’ll be a fit to help our team and our program launch forward,” Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw said.

After the tryouts, the Bulldogs will have theme days. They’ll spend an entire day putting in work on areas such as transition offense and pressure defensive.

In the process, Waukegan will build chemistry.

“We play in two weeks from Thursday in Quincy, so we have to build chemistry (and) work on our defensive schemes,” Brown said. “Offense will come easy for us, because me, Jordan (Brown), Ja’Dyn (Brown) and Andre (White Jr.), and a couple of other guys, we’ve been playing with each other since the fourth grade.

“We all know each other. We know our tendencies. Really, it’s if we can talk on defense, we can be really good.”

Brian O'Mahoney / News-Sun

Waukegan's Bryant Brown (25) puts up a shot as Deerfield's Danny Siegel (14) defends during a game on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.

“It’s hard to believe that he’s a senior,” Ashlaw said. “He is every bit of what we wanted him to become. And now we just want him to be better than he’s been. He has a lot of room to grow before his ceiling is reached as a player because he gets better and better all the time.

“He looked bouncy and athletic (Monday).”

Brown’s offseason included work on his body to build muscle.

“I think I got a lot stronger,” he said.

He also worked on his guard skills.

“We want to get it and go,” Brown said. “We want to play fast. Last year, I lacked ballhandling a lot. This year, I really worked on it.”

He said his shot has improved, along with his footwork for defense.

“I’m really excited,” Brown said. “This year, I kind of feel the same way I felt my sophomore year (when Waukegan won a regional title).

“I was curious for the season, but also really excited because I feel like something special is going to happen. We’re going to work every day and hopefully we can win a lot of games.”